<< Background >>Natural disasters strike us almost every day. Floods, droughts, hurricanes, etc. And often these are directly or indirectly related to climate change. A phenomenon that is unmistakably going on. But a phenomenon that we can also slow down or stop if we want to. And we will have to if we want to guarantee the survival of a lot of life on Earth. But how do we go about it? What can we do as citizens ourselves to do our bit?In this project, we will search for answers to these questions with the students. We will not only introduce them to the causes of global warming. But we are also going to look at how we can build a more sustainable society in which there is a healthy balance between people and society. In our schools, too, we see that sustainability is becoming an important factor. But the transition to a more sustainable school is difficult. With this project, we hope to be able to contribute to this as well. An effort that, above all, will be supported and carried out by the students. In this way, we also hope that they take this sustainability thinking home with them. And that they can also make a difference there and with their friends. In this way, we all make our small contribution to a more sustainable society.<< Objectives >>Of course, this project cannot solve all the problems and issues of a sustainable society. That is why we are also focusing on a number of objectives.We want our students to:* get better at sustainable thinking.* have a more sustainable form of energy use.* produce less waste.* participate more in the circular economy. Our schools want to:* produce less waste* Investigate how we can switch to more sustainable energy. To be able to do this the students are: * gaining scientific knowledge about the causes and consequences of climate change and how to tackle natural disasters in Europe. * gaining knowledge about the pros and cons of alternative and/or sustainable energy as a means to tackle climate change.* analyze their ecological footprint* reducing energy consumption in their daily lives and in their families.* gaining knowledge on the impact of waste on the environment and the climate.* implementing ways to reduce the amount of waste they produce.* gaining knowledge on the role of circular economy in tackling the waste problem.* get involved in the circular economy by means of recycling old products and buying new products based on recycled materials.* provide a global vision of climate change To be able to do this the schools will:* investigate how the school currently deals with waste, energy consumption and other environmental issues.* Based on the investigation, create a work plan to actually tackle the environmental issues of the schools when it comes to reducing waste, save energy and switch to more sustainable energy. (it will be different for each school)<< Implementation >>To achieve all this, we want to carry out a number of activities:* Firstly, at the start of the project, we want to investigate for each participating school what their ecological footprint is. This data will then be used to draw up a work plan for the school to work on during the project. At a certain point in the project (3rd topic) this work will be very intensive. At the end of the project, we investigate again what the ecological footprint of the schools is. We can now assess whether the developed actions have actually had an impact on reducing the ecological footprint. This will lead to a new work plan with which the schools will continue to work on after this project.* Secondly, an Energy Advisor App will be developed in the course of the entire project. With this app, pupils, teachers, parents or anyone who wants to can have a score calculated that tells them how they deal with energy. They will also receive tips on how to reduce their energy consumption and make it more sustainable. We do this test with our pupils and their parents once at the beginning of the project and again at the end. This way, we can measure whether the tips have actually made a difference.* Thirdly, over the 2 years of the project, 4 topics will be worked out in focus. - Natural disasters: where do they come from and how do they occur. What impact does global warming have on them? And is this the same for all parts of Europe, and by extension the world? Our students will first investigate this in their own country. Afterwards, they are going to compare their findings with those of students from other countries in the project. Conclusions can then be drawn from this. - Reusable energy: the students will get acquainted with different forms of renewable energy. They will also work with renewable energy themselves by making a solar-powered mobile phone charger. They can then use it themselves to use more renewable energy in their daily lives. During the project meeting, the students will continue to work with renewable energy during the solar-power race. - Ecological footprint. During this part of the project, the pupils work intensively on implementing the measures formulated in the work plan as described above. In addition, they will also investigate the ecological impact of products. And they will examine whether locally developed products actually have a smaller ecological footprint. - In the last part, the pupils get to know the circular economy and what it entails. They also get to work within the circular economy by starting repair cafes in their own schools. In the process, they will also gain skills in making new products from waste themselves. in the end they will develop a plan to continue with the repair cafes at school after the project has ended. Finally, with any income from the repair café, pupils will plant trees in the local community and thus also contribute to better and cleaner air.<< Results >>At the end of the project the participating schools and pupils will have created a lot of tangible project results:* A work plan on how to make our schools greener and more sustainable.* A presentation from each country regarding effects of global warming, containing a map of environmentally vulnerable places in each country that are affected by global warming. * One shared European film about problems due to global warming, similarities and differences between the countries, natural disasters, and the ability to protect them from happening together with a shared environmentally interactive map of vulnerable places in Europe.* Energy Advisor App* Solar-powered vehicles* Logbooks on the build of solar-powered cars.* Solar powered mobile phone chargers. (produced in each country)* Step-by-step tutorials to build your own solar-powered mobile phone charger in each partner’s language.* Documentary film from each school's investigation and actions regarding reducing the ecological footprint of the school.* Making eco-products: fertilizers, soap, recycling waste* Making water filters and gadgets for energy savings (Ecodesign)* Several refurbished devices* Collected money from repair cafes is invested to plant trees.* Lesson plans and materials, in English, Dutch, Swedish, Spanish, Galician, and Portuguese. In addition, the pupils will also have worked on a number of intangible project outcomes:* Knowledge on the greenhouse effect and reasons for global warming* Getting a geographic frame of reference and knowing where the different locations are in Europe, makes it easier for the students to make an analysis.* Learn about Sustainable Development Goals number 7, 12 and 13* Learning to work together in groups solving problems and making analyses together.* Use of technology to make presentations* Knowledge of renewable energy* Awareness of the importance of renewable energy.* Use of technology to promote a better lifestyle. (reduce energy consumption)* Improved awareness about the circular economy.* Skills to help fix simple problems. (e.g. puncture in a tyre of a bike)* Practical skills on how to reuse old objects.